Himachal Pradesh CM cancels his public events amid spurt in virus cases

Shimla, January 9

Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday cancelled his public programmes till January 15 amid a spurt in coronavirus cases in the state, which has reported over 3,000 infections in just 12 days.

The state reported eight Covid deaths during the period, pushing its fatality count to 3,864, according to official data.

The number of active cases stood at 2,811 on January 8, an eight-time increase from just 344 on December 28, after which 3,007 new infections surfaced in Himachal Pradesh.

On December 27, the number of deaths stood at 3,856, the data showed.

Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur in a Facebook post on Sunday said he has cancelled his public programmes till January 15 in view of the spurt in cases.

An official spokesperson said programmes of the chief minister to be held in Sulah, Badsar, Hamirpur and Nadaun constituencies stand cancelled. All these programmes will be rescheduled at the earliest, he added.

Himachal Pradesh had reported 83 Covid cases on January 1, 76 on January 2, 137 on January 3, 260 on January 4, 374 on January 5, 498 on January 6, 574 on January 7 and the highest 728 on January 8, according to the official data.

Similarly, the state reported 73 Covid cases on December 28, 52 on December 29, 65 on December 30 and 87 on December 31, the data revealed.

The total number of Covid cases on January 8 stood at 2,31,587 from 2,28,580 on December 27.

However, no new case of Omicron variant has been detected in Himachal Pradesh, state Health Secretary Amitabh Avasthi said on Sunday.

The only case of Omicron variant was detected on December 26. A 45-year-old woman, who had returned from Canada, was found suffering from it. --- PTI

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